Welcome to the very first addition of Birmingham LEAF.
A magazine, which is naturally brilliant just for you! The
brand new magazine that shows you fun and interesting
things about Birmingham and the wildlife hiding right in
front of your eyes. It's time to explore, and enter, LEAF!

Introduction to Team LEAF
Birmingham Fun Facts

Urban Animals

Creepy Critters

Birmingham Wordsearch

LEAF through...

Parker Parrot

Conkers: How to play
Feed the Birds

Creepy Canals
Canals Nature Trail

Birmingham SeaLife Centre

Grow your Own

Garden Recipes

Printing with Vegetables
Birmingham Botanical Gardens

One for sorrow, two for joy
Wilma Worm Maze

Garden Zooniverse

Laura Prior.
(Graphic Designer)
“I bet you didn’t know
Birmingham has more parks
than any city in Europe, I
love to sit and read a book in
one of these escapes from
the city.”

Betty Thomas.
(Illustrator)
“Birmingham is a brilliant
place. There is so many
exciting things to draw. I
love spotting animals and
seeing how they cope in the
city.”

Natalie Swaby.
(Fact Finder)
I love to get up close to
the animals in Birmingham
to find out their most
interesting facts and
secrets, my favourite urban
animals are squirrels.

Birmingham is a lively, exciting place to live and
has been given many nicknames.
-Workshop of the world,
-The city of a thousand trades,
-Toyshop of the world.
Birmingham has 22 more miles than Venice.
Europes largest public library is in Birmingham and lends
8 million books a year.
There is a crator on the moon called Birmingham.
The very frist petrol car was made in Birmingham.
Birmingham is home to Cadbury Chocolate.
Birmingham has over 6 million trees.

Birmingham is home to the Bullring,
a market site for over 800 years!

Spaghetti junction is one of the biggest motorway
junctions in Europe.
The very frist X-ray

was taken in Birmingham in 1896.

Victoria Square has one of the largest fountains in
Europe, flowing 3,000 gallons every 4 minutes.

Birmingham is known as the
second biggest city in the
UK. Over 1,000,000 people live
in Birmingham and that number goes up every year. But
our giant city is also home
to much wildlife and nature.
Lets take a look which urban
animals live in this
concrete jungle.

Foxes

- Belong to the same family
as dogs. Slightly smaller
than wolves, they have an
upturned muzzle, pointed
ears, long, bushy tail and red
fur.
- Like to be left undisturbed
and make their dens under
decking, sheds, and in
deserted plots of land,
where there are bushes and
shrubs
- Live in family groups and
can be very territorial

- Are omnivores (meaning it
eats meat and vegetation)
- Search through bins to
find left over food, but
also hunt for birds, small
mammals and insects
- Communicate with barks
and howls
- Are most active at dawn
and dusk
- Live for about 4 years in
an urban setting
- Give birth to 4-6 pups
each litter, which are born
into earths onto bare soil

Bats

- Delicate flying mammals,
bats have short dog-like
faces, dark brown fur and
tiny sharp teeth
- The most common bat is
called the Pipistrelle and is
only 4cm long
- Choose homes where it is
warm and has lots of food
to eat. In small spaces

often in lofts and attics
- Live in big groups called
colonies
- Only eat one thing..bugs,
mostly caddisfly and moths.
Eww!
- Are nocturnal (meaning
they sleep all day and wake
up to eat and fly around at
night)
- Hibernate (meaning they
sleep from November to
March)
- Have only one pup each
litter, which live in a nursery
roost until they learn to fly

Hedgehogs

- Are roughly 25cm long when
fully grown. They have brown
prickly spines all over its back and
sides. Even its head and belly are
covered in course hair.
- Spines help protect the hedgehog, because when it feels scared
it curls up into a spiky ball.
- Live in city centres and do not
mind man. Often found in urban
gardens, where there is plenty of
food.

- Eat most things
at ground levels, but
they particularly like
to munch on beetles,
slugs, worms, earwigs
and caterpillars.
- Will have 4-5 born
into a nest
- Build special nests
called a hibernaculum
which they hibernate in
all winter
- If you listen very
carefully at night you
might be able to hear
rusting and snuffling
in your garden as the
hedgehog searches for
food.

Have you
ever gone
in search
of a
spider?
Have you
ever looked
for a
ladybird?
Or tried to
capture a
caterpillar?
Have you
explored
for an
earwig? If
you

haven't I
think you
should. Go
into your
garden and
have an
adventure,
investigate
for
insects.

Oi-right
Mayt?

Yow littul
varmint!

Oooh Arrh
Bab

Bostin!

Parker Parrot has got lost in the city
of Birmingham and has picked up some
of the traditional phrases that can be
heard in Birmingham today.
Can you say these phrases?

When the trees start loosing their leaves
in Birmingham, there is one treat you can't
refuse.

1. Find the biggest, strongest conkers
you can. (Mind the spiky outside shell.)
2. Ask an adult to drill a hole through the
middle of the conkers very carefully.

3. Get a piece of sturdy string and thread
one end through the hole. Tie a knot
underneath the conker so that it doesn’t
fall off the string
4. Your conker is
now ready to go

But don’t
worry, there’s
plenty more
conkers to
play with.
How about
setting up a
championship
with your
friends to see
who has

Have you ever played
conkers? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll tell you how..

5. Find one of
your friends who
is prepared for a
conker-battle

6. Take it in turns
to knock your
conker against the
other
collected
the
strongest
conker. Or
you could
get pens and
draw faces
on your
conkers,
naming the
champions.

7. The first
conker to crack
and fall off
the string loses

A great way of attracting birds
to your garden is by making a bird
feeder. This is very simple and will
make sure the birds can find food
through the winter.
1. Ask your adult helper
if they will cut two
holes through the plastic
bottle, one slightly
higher than the other so
the wooden spoon can be
pushed through

2. Gradually cover the bottle with the leaves
making layers until it is completely covered

3. Stick some twigs around
the neck of the bottle to
create a roof. You could also
use pine cones or berries!
You will need:
- An empty plastic
bottle
- A wooden spoon
- Leaves + Twigs
- PVA Glue or Double
sided tape
- Bird seed
- An adult helper

4. Fill the bottle with
bird seed so it pours
onto the surface
of the spoon! Place
outside in a place
where the birds can
find it

Julia Heeley was taking her daily stroll
through Perry Park in Birmingham with
her little baby Freddie.
She pulled up his buggy by the side of the canal.
“Freddie look at all the fish in the canal! Can you
see any tadpoles?”

“Googley gaaa” replied Freddie. Julia looked up to carry
on walking but SUDDENLY an old lady appeared right in
front of the buggy! The woman was wearing a long
black dress and a blood red cape.
She had long beautiful black hair
and was slightly transparent.
Julia jumped back in shock when
she realised the elderly woman
was a ghost! Freddie screamed and
before Julia could utter a word
the vision of the woman was
gone!

This lady is rumoured to
be the ghost of Queen
Henty, a gypsy who was
responsible for a Romany
encampment that stayed in
the park a century ago.

Do you know any ghost stories?

Take a trip to the canals.
Can you spot these things?
The canals around Brindley Place are very
historic and have been there for an extremely
long time. They were the first transport
system specifically designed to carry goods
around the country.

Birmingham canals can take
you all
over the country however
today they are used for
leisure and relaxation rather
than transporting goods.

The boats were originally
pulled by horses and if you
look by the bridges you may
be able to still see the marks
where the towropes cut into
the bridges.

Can you spot any Geese like
these Canadian ones?

Can you find these plants
around Brindley place?

Do you recognise this flower?
What does it symbolise?

How many ducks can you
spot swimming around?
Not only were the canals made for
transportation but they also provide a
home for many animals.

Can you find any other animals that live at Brindley Place?

Would you like to explore the
depths of the oceans? In
Sealife Birmingham you can.

- Watch feeding demonstrations
- Investigate the contents of a rock
pool (you can hold a crab or touch a
starfish!)
- See over 1,000 creatures, including sting
rays, giant turtles and sharks!
- 4D cinema showing â&#x20AC;&#x153;Happy Feetâ&#x20AC;? etc.
Here are some
interesting
wacky facts
about some of
the underwater
critters you
might see..

Puffer fish inflate
like a ball to scare off
predators.

Otters can stay
under water for 4
minutes at a time.

Otters love to eat fish, plants and berries.
Otters are related to badgers and ferrets.

Turtles can live up
to 100 years old!

The shock of an
electric eel has been
known to knock a horse
off its feet.

Turtles were on Earth
before dinosaurs.
Turtles can lay
about 100 eggs.
Sea Urchins have
no brains.
Sea Urchins can
clone themselves

Starfish can have
up to 40 arms.

Stingrays use their
tails for defence.
Stingrays
are related
to sharks

Some people eat
shark fin soup.
Baby sharks are
called pups.

Seahorses are
one of the
only species
where the male
gives birth.

Sharks have many
rows of teeth to
replace old ones
when they fall
out.

Seahorses change
colour to blend
in with their
surroundings

Crabs usually only live
to 3 years old.
The biggest crab ever
shown in England was
at Sealife Birmingham.

Jellyfish have
no blood and no
brains.

Clown fish are
born male and then
change to female.

Clown fish
can lay
up to 1000
eggs at a
time.

Jellyfish have
existed for more
than 650 million
years.
Some
jellyfish
have a
nasty
sting.

If you're lucky enough
to have a garden in
Birmingham, why not have
a go growing your own
food?

How about creating a vegetable plot, a
herb garden or a mini orchard? If you don't
have much space, there are plenty of things
you can grow on your windowsills inside. Here
is an easy way to grow your own delicious
strawberries.

You will need:
- A plant pot
- A strawberry plant
- Some multi-purpose compost

1. Pop the strawberry plant in the
large plant pot, so there's plenty of
room to grow.
2. Surround the plants roots and base
with multi purpose compost.
3. Push down the soil firmly around
the roots so the plant is stable.
4. You should place your strawberry
plant in the sunniest spot in your
garden, (or the sunniest windowsill).
5. Make sure the plant gets enough
water. (Water them once a week). The
soil around the plant should always be
damp.
6. Now just sit and wait, your
strawberry plant will grow in no time.
7. As soon as the weather starts
getting sunny and hot the plant will
produce fruit. Strawberries start off
green, but will soon ripen.
8. When the strawberries turn red they
are ready to eat. YUM!

Now you have grown your own
strawberries, what could you do with them?

A strawberry cheesecake, homemade strawberry icecream, strawberry
and cream angel-cakes, or how about making a Scrummy-Strawberry
Milkshake?
1.Pick your reddest, juiciest looking strawberries
2.Wash and destalk the strawberries
3.Peel and break the banana into small pieces
4. Throw all the fruit into a bowl
and mash it up using a fork (or
if you have one mix the fruit
together in a blender)
5. Add the cold milk and
yoghurt

6.Mix it all together
until it is nice and
smooth 7. (Feel free to add strawberry ice
cream or sorbet to make it extra cool)

Printing with vegetables is a
fun and easy way of making
artwork. All you need is some
hard, strong veg and some
paint (and an adult helper for
the tricky bits).

1. Kindly ask your adult helper to cut the
vegetables in half.

2.Take a paintbrush or roller and

3. Push the
vegetable down
on a clean piece
of paper as
hard as
you
can.

Try printing the
outside of the
vegetables to get
some interesting
textures from
their skins!

apply paint to the
flat side of
the vegetable.

4. Remove the
vegetable and admire
your beautiful piece
of work!
You could
also use
fruit like
apples,
pears,
oranges, and
lemons.

Take a chance
to have a look
around Birmingham
amazing Botanical
gardens. Explore
nature from all
over the world.

Search 4
glasshouses
filled with exotic
plants from the
tropical jungle to
the dry, sandy
desert.

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,
Three for a girl,

Five
for
silver,

Four for a boy,

Six for gold,
Eight for
a wish,

Magpies are
one of the
only species of bird
that can recognise
itself in the mirror.

Seven for a
secret never
to be told,

Nine
for a
kiss,

A magpie's feather
actually has green, purple
and bronze shimmers

Magpies are known for taking shiny objects to collect in
their nests. Jewellery, plastic, metal and coins.

Ten for a bird
you cannot miss!

Help Wilma Worm find her way to these famous places in Birmingham.
Do you recognise any of these buildings?

Bullring/Selfridges

Iron Man

Botanical
Gardens

Coliseum/Town Hall

of
e
l
d
d
mi
he I am
t
the
in
tallest
I sit rk
a
building
a p
in the
a
I am ping
city
p
sho re
t
ceI nam 6 metres high
I have
feet
ncluding my
(i
stood
eath the
hich are ben
w
for
pavement)
almost ve
many stone pillars
I ha
200
up
which help me stand
years

Try to
connect the
clues to the
buildings in
Wilmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Worm
maze.
BT
Tower

- Create a wilderness section to your
garden by scattering wild flower
seeds and letting the grass grow long.
This will attract small mammals to your
garden. These are fun to watch but
also could feed other animals like owls,
which are an endangered species.

This will be great fun, but
can also help save some
species from extinction.

- If you plant a large selection of
different coloured and smelling plants it
will attract a huge range of insects and
bugs. Including bees, which are in serious
decline and could use your help for food.
- Put out bird feeders and
different kinds of bird seed
and chicken corn to feed many
different types of bird

- Plant some berry trees, nut trees and
hedgerow bushes around your garden.
These are favourites for small animals
like wood mice. But you can also supplement
their diet and encourage them to come to
your garden by leaving the odd digestive
biscuit for them to eat.

- Don't cut off dead flower heads
as birds eat the seeds in these

- Make a big pile of leaves
and cover with a water-proof
sheet over the winter and it
will become a cosy home for
hedgehogs, frogs, toads and
slowworms

- A plate of (non-fish) cat or dog
food will attract hedgehogs to your
garden.
- Also cut up apples and pears. Remember
not to use slug pellets as this can seriously
harm hedgehogs.

- If you
attract
hedgehogs in
your garden,
they will eat
the slugs for
you.

Birmingham LEAF
was created for the
enjoyment of 8-10 year
olds living in Birmingham.